Super Baby
by PriestessOfNox
Summary: Somehow infant Kal-El's rocket ship lands far off course: in the future on Colu. Now it's up to Brainiac 5, a child himself, to get the infant back to his proper destination without being found out by his Care Takers who are programmed to despise Superman
1. Chapter 1

09/10/11 It's like I'm counting! ... Yes I'm easily amused.

Tenth Entry of my daily challenge based of Darkj3's picture on deviant art made for "When they were Young Wednesday" for CxB Week last year. This was going to be my entry for "Fanfic Friday" but it might end up being too long because now that I've started it there's a lot I want to do with it. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

Super Baby

Part 1

Chapter 1

Querl Dox, a young Brainiac Five, was eight years old and terribly bored. He was just lying in the grass for his daily hour of fresh air in the protective dome his care takers had built for him. They had probably built it before he had been born because he couldn't remember the small field ever not being just outside of his lab, a whole world away during the other twenty-three hours of the day.

It wasn't as though Querl would ever give up this hour, any free time without his care takers hovering around him was a miracle of science in itself, but there was nothing to do when he was outside. He couldn't work on his experiments, the caretakers wouldn't allow for reading material to be taken outside and there was only so many times he could walk to run the perimeter of the dome before having every scratch in the glass memorized along with the blades of grass. He couldn't even memorize the petals on flowers or weeds since the caretakers eradicated them the moment they sprouted up in programmed fear that he could be allergic to them.

Just as Querl began to plot a way to sneak out a book for tomorrow he noticed something bright beyond the glass. It obviously wasn't the sun, or shooting star. Could it be a meteor?

As if to just prove Querl wrong a small rocket came charging through the glass, completely shattering one of the octagonal panels, and then nose dived into the ground, the cockpit flying open and throwing out it's passenger. Though the small passenger hadn't landed yet, it would be very improbable for it to survive.

Still Querl stood and ran towards it. He wasn't sure why he bothered; there was no way to catch the passenger and his medical training was still at a novice level but his body wouldn't allow him to just sit there.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the passenger's falling pattern changed. Instead of heading straight at its current trajectory it turned and headed for him.

Querl stopped so fast he fell backwards but instead of lowering his arms to brace for impact he raised them to try for a desperate catch.

The gamble worked; the small passenger landed in Querl's arms and even after its rescuer fell with a thud it _giggled_.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Querl looked down to find an infant wrapped in a red blanket in his arms. And it wasn't just any infant. It was a light peach color, a human or another alien species like it skin tone. It, Querl surmised that it was a boy from closer inspection, had blue eyes and black hair with an oddly familiar curl in the bangs.

"Brainiac Five," the familiar call of his Caretakers brought Querl's mind back into focus. He got up to his knees, keeping the infant close to his chest, ignoring his wiggling and giggling and attempts to reach for the grass as if it was a favorite toy, to hide him from the approaching caretakers as he only turned his face to look at them.

"Examine that shuttle then bring it inside for me to study," Querl ordered before he stood. "I'm going back inside!"

The young Coluan ran to the lab before the Caretakers could question him.


	2. Chapter 2

09/11/11

I'm on time according to my time zone!

Part 1

Chapter 2

"How are you not dead?" Querl asked the infant, getting nothing that even resembled words in response. With some difficulty he managed to set up some pillows and blankets in a clean bin for a make shift crib, all while holding an infant that didn't seem to know that a concept called "still" existed, and attempted to set the infant in it.

Instantly the infant's face screwed up tight and became red as its tiny lung projected his cries as long as they could.

"Stop that," Querl commanded. "You're going to get us both in trouble!"

The infant only cried louder, his little hands tightening into small fists.

"I don't have milk for you and if it's a diaper you need you're on your own," Querl tried shouting.

Again the infant cried louder, starting to thrash about and knock loose the blankets that shielding the infant from his metal container.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that," Querl scowled and picked the child up to fix the crib.

The affect was immediate, the infant's cries diminished into sniffles and he held onto the older child's lab coat.

For a moment Querl stared at the infant before his scowl deepened.

"I'm not going to carry you around all day."

Looking up at Querl, the infant seemed to bat his eyelashes.

His scowl twitching away, Querl adjusted the infant so he was easier to hold.

"I have work to do and you're only going to get in the way."

The infant rested his head on Querl's chest and snuggled against it.

Querl sat in a chair and sighed, "I'm not keeping you. I got to figure out where you come from and find a way to send you back."

In response the baby made a sound that sounded like a contented coo.

"This doesn't bode well for me," Querl surrendered, wrapping his arms around the child.

It was then Querl felt something on the back of the infant's blanket. He was careful to turn the child around but almost dropped him when he spotted the crest, with an all so familiar red 'S' in the center.

"This doesn't bode well for me at all."

The infant just giggled.


	3. Chapter 3

09/15/11

I really like the ending of this one. :D

Chapter 3

The infant that was trying to gum on Querl's lab coat was Superman, Kal-El of Krypton. If the crest on the baby blanket, the baby's arrival via rocket and the baby's physical characteristics weren't enough to convince him then the confirmed DNA comparison he did, did the trick.

This knowledge however didn't help the question of what he was supposed to do. He couldn't keep the infant even if he wasn't an important historical figure. His care takers would find the young Kryptonian eventually and try to eliminate him, though he survived a rocket crash so that might be harder to do then Querl originally imagined.

With no one to turn to for assistance Querl had no choice but to try and find a way to send the infant Superman back to his proper destination on his own. The most logical solution to this was to find what sent him so far off course to begin with and then see if the affect could be reversed.

Careful not to jostle the infant, Brainy walked to his computer and set it up to scan for space anomalies around Colu and then stretch outward as far as it could go until it found something. After he was sure the scan had started he went to look into his big project room.

As he suspected, his care takers were setting up the rocket for him to examine as he requested. The caretakers were simple in the way they would do anything he asked in the name of science. Well, almost anything; they had been upgraded to not let him take them apart after he dismantled the first half dozen of them when he was four.

From what Querl could see, without letting the care takers see him, the rocket needed numerous repairs. The nose, the cockpit, possibly navigation were just from the top of his head out of the possibilities from a long distance observation.

Moving back into the main part of his lab, Querl tried to set the infant back down in his make shift crib but stopped the moment he saw the younger child's face start to scrunch together; about to cry.

With a sigh, Querl brought the infant back into his arms.

"You are such a bother."

Oblivious, the infant just cuddled against his chest.

It took a while but Brainy managed to use one of his spare lab coats and a few other materials to make a harness/sling to strap the infant to his back, much like those used by African woman in Earth's ancient history. He figured his back was a much better place to keep the child then his chest since it would allow him to have full use of his hands and arms without worrying about accidentally hitting or spilling anything onto him while he worked.

"I guess you're going to be my lab assistant for today," Querl commented as he double checked that all the straps were secure. "What do you think of that?"

The infant spat up on Querl's back.

"You're a bad lab assistant," Querl groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

09/16/11

No notes, just tired... I'll be happy when this month is over.

Chapter 4

Absolutely no work got done that day. By the time Querl finished changing the infant was crying even when Querl held him.

The first thing Querl feared was that the infant needed a new diaper but, luckily, that did not seem to be the case. The second option was that he was hungry.

Though there was no milk at Querl's disposal, the young Kryptonian had something much better; Querl's intellect. With the use of his computers, research, a quick overview of the nutritional needs of most humanoid infants and a synthesizer Querl was able to make a powder formula that gave his unexpected guest everything that he would need for his nutrition, even some fiber and other vitamins so soft baby food wouldn't be necessary later on. The coluan genius even had the forethought to make it taste good, like actual milk, so the infant wouldn't reject it.

As the powder was being made by the synthesizer, Querl reprogrammed his suppler machine to recreate things that weren't tools for him. It was hard to work with the baby crying and worrying about the care takers hearing but he managed to put in the specs for various kinds of equipment for a variety of purposes and materialized a few bottles under the guise of a test so no one would get suspicious.

Once the powers was added to the proper amount of water at the proper temperature and shaken in the bottle, Querl was finally able to re-pick up the nearly screaming infant and sit down to feed him. As he watched the infant eat, occasionally pulling back the bottle to give him breaks to breathe, he had to wonder what the caretakers were doing that they weren't checking in on him or listening to the noises coming from his lab. It was to his advantage that they were absent but he knew that when something was too good to be true it usually was.

After the infant was fed, burped and Querl changed again from another round of spit up, Querl fed himself with the infant again strapped to his back. Luckily he had finished before he noticed a fowl odor.

"You have to be kidding me," Querl groaned, putting the infant back into the crib and ignored his whimpers as he set back to work.

Querl wasn't serious when he said the baby would be on his own if his diaper needed changing. He was, however, adamant about not changing it, at least not with his own two hands.

It was remedial enough to create a machine capable of the task, however it took longer to make the fact hands soft and warm enough where it wouldn't hurt the baby or bring it further discomfort during the process. As he waited for parts to come out of his supplier he programmed the synthesizer to produce clothe diapers under the guise of needing the clothes for rags.

In a way Querl was very lucky the recycler and disposal units didn't analyze anything he put in them or all of this work would have been for nothing when it came time to dispose of the infant's original diaper.

Though this thought brought up a question in Querl's mind; why was he continuing to call and think of the infant as just that, 'infant' or 'baby' when he knew the child's identity? Wouldn't using a name be simpler? Then again, this child had, or will have, so many.

"Kal-El," Querl experimentally called the infant once said infant was properly cleaned up and changed and back in his arms as they sat together.

The infant looked at him, seeming to recognize the sound but unsure what to do.

"Superman," Querl tried again.

This time the infant's nose wrinkled.

"Super baby," Querl frowned even before the infant blew a raspberry at him. He had one last option, "Clark?"

Instantly the baby seemed to squeal in delight.

It must have been infectious because Querl smiled as well.

"Well Clark, lets see about getting you to the Kents, shall we?"

Almost as soon as Querl stood, the care takers alerted him over the communication system that it was time to go to bed. He was a 12th level intelligence and he still didn't understand why he had a bed time.

Rejecting the make-shift crib as a over night option, Querl put Clark to sleep next to him on the bed, between him and the wall, thus shielding him from anyone who would come into the room and try to take him away.


	5. Chapter 5

09/19/11

SUPER SHORT CHAPTER! But I wanted this to be a stand alone moment.

Chapter 5

Querl awoke to a pair of blue eyes staring at him. He almost fell out of the bed until he realized that would make the younger child fall with him, having put hi arms around the infant during the night like some sort of living teddy bear.

"Don't get too comfortable; you're going to Kansas where you belong," Querl wasn't sure if he was telling Clark that or himself.

After having his machine clean Clark, Querl had his synthesizer materialize a small inflatable tube and took it and Clark into the bath with him. The Coluan child used the tube to keep the Kryptonian infant upright in the bath so he wouldn't have to worry about holding him while washing his bath mate.

"Too bad synthesizing baby shampoo would be a dead give away to you being here," Querl stated, using only a small amount of his own shampoo to wash Clark's hair, being watchful of keeping the suds out of the infant's eyes.

Not seeming to care, Clark cooed and giggled, splashing about and the water and holding onto Querl's arm whenever the older child tried to keep him still.

"Glad you're enjoying this," Querl smiled but then stopped himself. "I need to stop talking to you and get to work."

Peering up at him, Clark smiled as happily as his little lips and cheeks would allow.

Though Querl didn't say anything else he stayed in the bath a little longer then usual.


	6. Chapter 6

09/20/11

Chapter 6

There was an old shirt of Querl's in storage that, while still big on Clark, had to be more comfortable then just a diaper and blanket. The size didn't seem to bother Clark at all, in fact he seemed to enjoy it; playing with the extra material kept him occupied while Querl worked.

While they had been sleeping Querl's computers detected a temporal wormhole that had resulted in Clark's arrival in the future and then onto Colu. The wormhole had reached its peak in size just after Clark's arrival and had begun to shrink. If they were to use the wormhole to get Clark back they had just over 48 hours before it closed completely, though it was better to have Clark on the way to the wormhole with at least ten hours to spar to be safe.

If things were to go his way all Brainy had to do was repair Clark's shuttle and program new directions into it. It should take less then twelve hours if he had all the parts he needed.

With a quick look, Querl saw that the hanger had the shuttle and no care takers guarding it. He could get to work right away.

Querl looked over at Clark, watching the infant giggle and smile, entertained by something as simple as an oversized shirt; his old oversized shirt.

Turning off the computer, Querl went over to Clark and picked him up, holding him close.


	7. Chapter 7

09/23/11

FanFiction Friday. As I stated at the beginning of this story this is based on a picture done by Darkj3 for CxB Week Last year for "When they were Young Wednesday". The story still isn't finished and since the chapter is so short I will be posting another oneshot for this story shortly.

Chapter 7

Querl almost didn't get to work on the rocket. Worse yet, every time he thought of it he thought of all the numerous ways he could simply get rid of it. Or, possibly worse then even that, thought ways to trick history.

Maybe the Kents were never supposed to have Clark at all? At least not the original; It would be so easy to clone Clark, exactly, give him the ability to age naturally and have all the same powers. Clark was certainly young enough where his life before wouldn't affect the way he grew up. Perhaps it would be even better to have a completely clean slate for the Kents to love and raise and teach their strong morals to that would make Superman the hero he was meant to be.

The idea was so tempting, even to the point where Querl did take a strand of Clark's hair and put it in a test tube in order to do it. He could do it; he had plenty of time and would have time to spar if he started now.

Instead Querl sat with Clark, holding him and cursing himself. He couldn't do that; he couldn't do anything to stop the Kents from having Clark and, more importantly, he couldn't keep Clark.

As much as Clark brought joy and laughter into Querl's little mundane world, Querl's couldn't keep him. Clark belonged to history, a pair of human parents that could give him all the love a infant and growing child would need, a world to protect that would stretch out to change a universe and Querl was only one person; he couldn't be that selfish. He couldn't keep Clark locked in a lab, hidden for his whole life when he could have fields to run in, school to attend, friends to make; a relatively normal life before his powers completely took hold.

In his arms, Clark whined and squirmed, reaching to Querl's face in an almost frustrated fashion.

"What is it?" Querl lifted Clark higher up so he could get whatever he was reaching for.

With a whine, Clark plopped his hands onto Querl's cheeks. It wasn't until those hands disrupted the flow of tears did Querl realize that he was crying.

Querl gently took hold of one of Clark's hands and forced a smile, "I'm alright Clark, no need for you to worry."

Clark whined, seeming to believe it as much as Querl did.


	8. Chapter 8

09/28/11 for 09/27/11

Last day of CxB week _Role-Reversal Tuesday_: Like what if Brainy was the one in the past and Clark was in the future. Or perhaps they switched powers or personalities?

Chapter 8

Once Clark had settled down for the night, Querl snuck into the hanger and began work on the rocket. He had all the parts he needed and he had taken them into the hanger earlier so he didn't need to waste any time preparing or gathering. If he didn't take any breaks then he should have everything finished before Clark woke up.

It took a lot an effort not to start crying again but somehow Querl managed to do it. He managed to finish in the wee hours of the morning while the care takers would still be in their charging ports.

There wasn't much time or will power left in Querl's tiny frame. He had to get Clark sent off before the care takers "awoke" for the day.

It didn't take long to get everything ready. Querl used a remote to direct the rocket back outside before heading back inside for Clark.

Before Querl had put Clark to bed he had taken his old shirt off of him. Clark hadn't liked that at all but he had fallen asleep quickly enough after his bottle and having Querl lay next to him until he was asleep. Now all that was left was to wrap him up in his blanket and put him back into the rocket.

This was an easy enough task; that is until Clark woke up. The moment he saw the rocket he started crying and screaming louder then ever before, squirming and kicking hard enough that Querl would have bruises later.

"It's alright," Querl tried to calm him, watching the building for the care takers, "it's alright; you're going home."

Not understanding or simply not caring, Clark continued to cry and squirm; if Querl didn't do something soon the care takers would surely hear and come looking.

Acting quickly Querl slipped off his lab coat and held it up to Clark, who instantly took it and buried his face in it. It calmed Clark a little, though he was still crying.

"I'm sorry Clark," Querl climbed up and put Clark into the rocket. "But this is what's best for you."

With some hesitance Querl kissed Clark's forehead, pushed the button for it to launch and closed the launch before jumping down.

Querl vaguely heard the care takers come out as the rocket blasted through the glass that had just been repaired and off to the wormhole that would take him to Kansas. It was like watching a shooting star fall upward.

"Good bye Clark," Querl couldn't stop the tears from falling.


End file.
